Unjoo Moon (문은주,born 1964) is an Australian
film director
A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...
, best known for the 2020 biopic
''I Am Woman'', that tells the story of international feminist icon
Helen Reddy
Helen Maxine Reddy (25 October 194129 September 2020) was an Australian-American singer, actress, television host, and activist. Born in Melbourne to a showbusiness family, Reddy started her career as an entertainer at age four. She sang on rad ...
.
Early life and education
She was born in
Daegu
Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea.
It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
in 1964,and her father Moon dong seok was the former leader for an association of Korean Australians in Sydney.
After she arrived in Australia at the age of 4,
she was raised in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
. Moon studied Arts/Law at the
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...
before working at the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
as a TV and print journalist. She left journalism to study film at the
Australian Film and Television and Radio School, winning the Kenneth B. Myer award and meeting her partner,
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology), ...
-winning
cinematographer
The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...
Dion Beebe
Dion Beebe A.C.S. A.S.C. ( ; born 18 May 1968) is an Australian-South African cinematographer. Originally from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, his family moved to Cape Town, South Africa in 1972. Dion studied cinematography at the Australian ...
. Together they moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, where Moon attended the
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Leade ...
, graduating with a Master of Fine Arts and receiving the Franklin J Schaffner Directing Award.
Career
Moon directed ''
The Zen of Bennett
''The Zen of Bennett'' is a 2012 American documentary film that depicts the life of jazz singer Tony Bennett. The film is directed by Unjoo Moon and produced by Bennett's son Danny and Jennifer Lebeau. The documentary was released for Bennett's 8 ...
'', a 2012 documentary on jazz singer
Tony Bennett
Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...
, produced by Bennett's son Danny and Jennifer Lebeau. The ''New York Times'' described it as "a tender, touching documentary portrait”.
After the
2017 Las Vegas shooting
On October 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old man from Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire on the crowd attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in . From his 32nd-floor suites in the Mandalay Bay hotel, he fired ...
, she worked with spoken word artist
In-Q on a public service video about
gun violence
Gun-related violence is violence committed with the use of a firearm. Gun-related violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable), assault with a deadly weapon, a ...
.
In October 2021, Moon was tapped to direct ''Frankly in Love'', an adaptation of David Yoon's debut novel of the same name.
''I Am Woman'' (2020)
''I Am Woman'', the film, is named after Australian singer Helen Reddy's most famous song, "
I Am Woman
"I Am Woman" is a song written by Australian musicians Helen Reddy and Ray Burton. Performed by Reddy, the first recording of "I Am Woman" appeared on her debut album ''I Don't Know How to Love Him'', released in May 1971, and was heard during ...
", which became a
feminist anthem
This is a list of songs described as feminist anthems, celebrating women's empowerment, or used as protest songs against gender inequality. These songs range from airy pop affirmations such as "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper, to s ...
during the rise of the
women's movement
The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or feminism) refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality between men and women. Such iss ...
in the 1970s. It follows Reddy from her arrival in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
in 1966, through her friendship with rock writer
Lillian Roxon
Lillian Roxon (8 February 1932 – 10 August 1973) was a noted Australian journalist and author, best known for ''Lillian Roxon's Rock Encyclopedia'' (1969).
From Italy to Australia, then the USA
She was born Lillian Ropschitz in Alassio, Provi ...
and her troubled marriage to manager Jeff Wald. Moon met Reddy at a "G'Day Australia" event in Los Angeles in 2013, and was surprised to find that her personal story, so entwined with the women's rights movement in the US, had never been told.
Moon told a journalist: "Growing up I remember a time when my mother and her friends – these bright, intelligent, and vibrant women – would roll down the windows of their
Volvo
The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
station wagons, let down their hair, and sing really loudly when Helen Reddy’s song, ''I Am Woman'', was on the radio. I have this very strong memory of watching how that song transformed women, and the lyrics stayed with me as they do with most people".
She showed the finished film to Reddy before it was locked off, and Reddy sang along to her songs while watching, and cried.
Moon said that the movie has particular relevance now, in the #
metoo
#MeToo is a social movement against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture, in which people publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was initially used in this context on social media in ...
era as women's rights have returned to the fore.
Selected filmography
*2017 The Wrong Side of History: Gun Violence
[
*2012 The Zen of Bennett]
Awards
*2020 Athena Breakthrough Award
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moon, Unjoo
1964 births
Living people
Australian film directors
University of New South Wales alumni
Australian Film Television and Radio School alumni
Australian people of Korean descent